MLB '17 Budget System
 

Ok. For most of the year I've been playing '16 because '17 had some "issues" that caused me to find more enjoyment in '16 than '17. However, after having messed around with '17 after all this time, I'm finding '17 to be a very enjoyable experience (although batter handedness on batter walkup screen still bugs me), except for one thing.....

I don't understand the new budget system.

So I'm asking those who have played thru a franchise season or more, can you please explain to me, in as simple of terms as possible, how the new budget system works in '17? Are there any issues with it to where is makes it impossible for CPU teams to be competitive/sign free agents or anything of the sort?

I'm really wanting to move my franchise from '16 to '17 because the gameplay is that much better, but this last little hurdle is preventing me from doing so.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help or attempts to help.

And please, I ask, let's not turn this into a "what's wrong with '17 thread", I simply want to discuss the new budget system and how it works. Because honestly, while I've enjoyed playing '16, I have this feeling like I missed out on a hell of a baseball game due to minor annoyances that I couldn't get past....until now.

Re: MLB '17 Budget System
 

My understanding is that the goal is to accrue as much money as possible over the year. The more money you bank, the more budget you'll have in the off season.

Contracts and other financial commitments are represented as a week by week expense, and profits do the same. So you're basically working with a weekly profit margin in the budget screen. You can go into the red on your profit margin in a single season, but how far depends on how much money you saved.

Once the season ends, your new budget is decided based on how much money you saved and your team's performance. Once you've set your team and spring training starts, your owners grab any excess bank as profit and leave you with a grace of 5 million extra in the bank (assuming they can afford that).

I'm unclear on if excess profit effects further seasons or if it just gets burned in the digital ether, as I play every pitch, so I haven't gotten nearly far enough to figure that out.

There is unfortunately no simplified year by year view of this in game. This was the best I could do to keep the explanation as simple as possible. Hope it helps!

Re: MLB '17 Budget System
 

Thank you very much! I appreciate the explanation and yes it does help.


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Re: MLB '17 Budget System
 

This years budget system definitely isn't easy to grasp. I know I still haven't fully, but this pretty much covers it. Hopefully, they expand on it for next year and give us a better explanation of how it works.

Re: MLB '17 Budget System
 

I’m having trouble with the budget too. I control all thirty teams with an entirely custom roster. I just ended my sixth season and have multiple players sitting in free agency that are too expensive to sign. I don’t know what to do next. I’m not sure what a budget increase will do. I’m not buying anything and I don’t know if I have enough stubs for all thirty teams to increase. Anyone have any suggestions?

I also hate the walk-up screen showing which side of the plate the batter hits from.

Re: MLB '17 Budget System
 

I've never experienced this myself but I have heard tell of custom rosters messing with long term budget balance. Unfortunately, as far as I know at least, there isn't a fix.

Re: MLB '17 Budget System
 

Just wanted to bump this to get some new eyes on this thread. I'm just looking to see if anyone else can help us better understand how to tell how much budget room a team has for the off season. Team budgets being weekly and contracts being yearly is confusing

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Re: MLB '17 Budget System
 

I've been assuming that I take the balance shown, multiply by 26 (for the 1/2 year the season runs) and that is the remaining budget. I'm using my 2014 carry over franchise. I haven't had issues thus far in the off season signing free agents to their teams (I got up to the last week of the 2017 MLB transactions for the year, and I try to mimic real life trades/free agency when it makes sense for the team in question). I do have a number of free agents in the pool that A) didn't resign/take the qualification offer or B) are no longer in the real MLB pool so I need to get them assigned to teams in a logical manner. I tried to keep my 40 man rosters at least up to 35 players at this point in off season. I have the concern that based on what Chris Sale wants, I can't get him on Boston. Based on the salary demands, Boston would be left with about 750K per week budget left. 750 K x 26 leaving 19.5 million. There are too many roster spots open for them to make this work at this time. On the other hand, Arizona has about 4.5 million per week still available, or 117 million. So they have wiggle room for various big name players. Also the coaches salaries come out of this too. For total team budget I look at the current budget screen then add the outstanding available budget and this gives me the rough idea of what the team had available for the year.

Don't know if this helps but it is what I'm seeing/assuming with my franchise.